Water Conservation
BACKGROUND
What is the issue?
Climate change and population growth are increasing pressures on water resources in the UK. A recent Water UK report identified that we are facing longer, more frequent droughts – and will face more acute droughts in future than previously thought – right across the UK (Waterwise).
Due to the recent dry weather conditions, some water companies have announced Temporary Usage Bans (TUBs) / hosepipe bans across regions of the UK. Some of these TUBs have rules that may affect recreational boating related activities. However, the restrictions for each area often differ between water companies, so it is advisable to check your water supplier’s website for details.
You can find general guidance on usage restrictions on the Water UK website.
Reasons to save water:
- It’s the heart of recreational boating.
- Saving water can save you money.
- Our changing climate is likely to leave us with hotter, drier summers, which could mean serious water shortages impacting society and the environment.
- Taking water from the environment means there is less there to support wildlife. The Environment Agency has to carefully control how much water is abstracted to ensure that ecosystems are not damaged.
- Treating water to make it safe to drink and distributing it to where it is needed takes lots of energy use - contributing towards emissions.
- If the waste water infrastructure gets overloaded, our waste water could end up polluting the environment.
LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
There is currently no legal duty to conserve water but it does make environmental and financial sense not to waste it.
There is legislation related to water discharge and pollution which is detailed on our advice pages for Pollution Control.
FACILITIES & OPERATIONS
Water Conservation:
- The first step is to conduct a site audit to identify where and how water is being used. This should also highlight any maintenance issues.
- Monitor your water bill closely and check your water metre readings are accurate.
- Contact your water supplier to see if they can provide any tips or guidance on reducing water use or any water conservation tools such as a tap aerator or save a flush bags.
Low Cost Measures:
- Check for and fix dripping taps and encourage users to report leaks and drips
- Place a cistern displacement device in toilets to reduce water consumption. This could be a purpose made product such as a hippo, or homemade device such as a 1-litre plastic bottle filled with water. Water is saved each time the toilet is flushed. But do not use in low flush or dual toilets (often installed after 2000).
- Install toilets with a dual-flush facility, with instructions clearly marked. These use only 6 litres of water as opposed to 10 litres for the conventional toilet
- Install urinals with flush controllers or waterless urinals (these can save around 65,000 litres of water a year per urinal)
- Install tap aerators wherever possible (reducing amount of water used by up to 80%) and watersaver shower heads which typically halve flow rates while still providing a powerful shower
- Install automatic shutoff taps or timing devices which will prevent water loss from people forgetting to turn the tap off. Likewise coin operated showers will also limit water usage
- Install flow restrictors on taps which will limit the amount of water discharged when the tap is fully open
- Fit plugs into basins to encourage users to fill the basin rather than use running water – captive plugs will prevent plugs disappearing
- Check for hidden leaks: read the water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter does not read exactly the same, there is a leak.
- Cover water tanks to prevent evaporation
- Install trigger devices on all hoses to provide automatic shut off
- Install a rainwater collection device outside your club buildings so that the water collected can be used for boat wash down. Ordinary garden water butts will of course be too small, but you can purchase 1,000 litre Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBCs) which will stack one on top of the other to give you potentially 2,000 litres of rainwater. Purchase these in black so the collected water does not discolour
- Consider purchasing products which score well on the water efficiency product labelling scheme
Higher Cost Measures:
Install rainwater harvesting systems to collect rainwater from roofs or large paved areas such as car parks. The collected water can then be used for toilet flushing or vehicle washing, boat wash down and watering plants
Reuse your grey water. Grey water recycling involves reusing wastewater from washroom basins and showers to flush toilets or water plants. In an office it will account for more than 35% of water use. Grey water from showers and hand basins is usually clean enough for flushing toilets with only basic disinfectant or microbiological treatment. Problems can arise, however, if the warm, nutrient rich grey water is stored, since it quickly deteriorates and bacteria multiply. This will also reduce the volume of sewage needing treatment. For those who pay for mains drainage, a reduction in sewerage charges may be negotiable with their sewerage authority
To find out more on how to conserve water see:
